Breaking Point: The Darkness Within
by Kagyuubi
Summary: Fed up with his miserable existance within the confines of Konoha, Naruto is mentally reconditioned by the Kyuubi to be a ruthless, cold blooded killer. Now he seeks revenge against the village that hated him for merely existing. By recruiting his fellow Jinchuriki, Naruto plans to bring destruction to the villages that sealed the biju within them. (Violence and Coarse Language)
1. Sparks That Start the Fire

**Breaking Point: The Darkness Within**

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**Chapter One ~ Sparks That Start the Fire**

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_"Demon!"_

_"Monster!"_

_"Get out of our village you freak!"_

The blonde boy flinched in his sleep, the curses of the villagers by day haunting him even at night. As more and more of the days insults ran through his mind, tears slid down the whisker marked cheeks of the seven year old Uzumaki Naruto, soaking into his pillow and joining the innumerable ranks of tears shed before them.

As the shadowy, imaginatively demonic taunting villagers that dwelled within his nightmares began to throw rocks and trash at the small boy cowering in an alleyway, screaming at him to crawl into a hole and die, young Naruto found himself wishing he could do just that and end it all.

Suddenly a voice growled like thunder, resounding from the depths of young Naruto and causing all the villagers to step back as one, fear evident on their twisted faces.

**"Silence, you worthless mongrels! You who torture my container shall suffer the same fate!"**

The villagers had left a massive gap between themselves and the mouth of the alleyway. Pure terror hovered over the group like a cloud, oppressive and tangible. Naruto felt himself being pulled to his feet by some unknown force, and was far too upset to care when the mysterious power began to move him towards the villagers. _They_ were scared now; he didn't have anything to fear. He could feel power coursing through his body, pure unrestrained rage burning away his fear and insecurities.

With this power, he felt like he was invincible.

The villagers who had been abusing him knew it too, pushing and trampling each other in their haste to get away from the demonic blonde boy. As he staggered closer and closer to the cowering soon-to-be victims, he caught sight of one of his arms. His eyes widened when he realized that his skin had been stripped away, revealing a layer of glowing red chakra pulsing with malevolence.

A smashed full length mirror was lying against the wall of the alley; curiosity got the better of him and he slowly stepped forwards, ready to find out what he truly was and what he had become. He step closer and closer, until he could see himself reflected a thousand times in the shards of the mirror.

Naruto's jaw dropped and he screamed as he found himself face to face with the glowing white eyes of the incomplete Kyuubi no Kitsune. It came out as a growl that scared away the few villagers that had remained rooted to the spot in fright, and shocked Uzumaki Naruto out of his nightmare.

Naruto sat up, gasping for breath. His eyes... the eyes of the Kyuubi were burned into his mind. Those eyes promised pain and destruction on an unimaginable scale. But why had he dreamt he was the Kyuubi? Surely he wasn't shunned by the village for that. The Yondaime Hokage had killed the Nine Tails nearly seven years ago. There was no way...

**"You are not the Kyuubi. Do not be so presumptuous."**

Naruto jumped in fear as the voice from his dream spoke again, _from within his mind. _"W-Who said that?"

**"I am the Kyuubi, the Nine Tailed Fox. I am the greatest of the Tailed Beasts, and I have been sealed inside you since the day of your birth."**

"B-But the fourth Hokage killed yo-"

**"No mere mortal can end me boy! I am rage incarnate! I am a being of pure chakra! And I reside within you."** the voice seemed resentful as it spoke that last part, prompting Naruto to ask:

"S-So I'm not the Kyuubi?" relief flooded through him as the real Kyuubi answered affirmatively.

**"The Yondaime Hokage," **he said the name in a disgusted tone, spitting it out like it was a bad taste in his mouth, wherever that mouth was. **"Couldn't defeat me, and instead sealed me inside the body of a new born infant, as per the requirement of the sealing ritual."**

"But why me?" Naruto asked. He had quickly lost his fear in favour of childish curiosity. Plus, it didn't seem like the voice could hurt him. An incorrect notion as it would turn out.

The Kyuubi chuckled, his deep growling mirth seemingly echoing around the small bedroom when in reality just reverberating inside the young Uzumaki's head. **"There is a reason, not known to anyone except those who were present at the sealing. I fear your inferior mind would not be able to cope with the knowledge at this stage; since we are bonded together and our lives are intertwined, I doubt revealing this information would reap any benefits for myself at this point in time."**

"Aww, come on! Tell me." whined Naruto, forgetting the fact that it was abnormal to be seemingly arguing with oneself.

**"Stay your tongue insolent pup!"** The sudden fury of the Kyuubi instantly silenced Naruto, bringing back the fear and worry he had almost forgotten. **"I do not acknowledge any requests from filthy pathetic worms like you humans! You are my servant, and will behave as such."**

Naruto's lower lip was quivering with fright; the anger of the Kyuubi had seared through his mind, showing him images of extremely painful mutilations and deaths the Kyuubi had wrought on other people. He retched as a particularly gruesome image of a woman torn apart and held together only by entrails and strips of muscle took prominence over the others. Splayed over a rock and surrounded by a pool of blood, the broken body barely resembled a person. Then she coughed out blood and screamed, and Naruto quickly leaned over the side of the bed and vomited, losing his extremely light dinner from the previous night. She was still _alive._

The Kyuubi's laughter echoed through his head as the dawn's first light rose over the horizon. Naruto weakly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and slumped back against his bed. He clutched his pillow tightly to his chest, shivering and wide eyed as the Kyuubi's laughter faded into the recesses of his mind. Whether his eyes were open or closed, he could still see the half dead woman lying in pieces on a rock.

Thus began the Kyuubi's systematic breakdown of his sanity.

* * *

~Ninja Academy~

* * *

Naruto was completely unaware of his surroundings that day. The image of that poor woman was firmly lodged in his mind, unknowingly held in the forefront of his mind by the Kyuubi. The greatest of the Tailed Beasts figured that by breaking the boy mentally, he would be able to rebuild him in his image and set the stage to escape his seven year old jailer when the time was right.

Naruto bit his lip as the urge to retch nearly overcame him. He instead directed his gaze towards the window, hoping to distract himself from the gruesome images in his mind. He yelped when a chalkboard eraser hit him square on the forehead, returning his attention to the sniggering of his classmates and the angry glare of his sensei.

"Uzumaki! If you're not going to pay attention in my class, then get the hell out!" he snarled, pointing at the door. Naruto knew it was pointless to argue and quickly did as he was told. As he walked down the aisle from the back of the class to the door at the front, one of his classmates stuck her foot out as he walked by. At the same time, Kiba stood up and loudly told Naruto that he should wipe the chalk dust off of his forehead, since he looked like a bird had crapped on his head. As the class erupted in a fresh bout of laughter, Naruto stumbled over the outstretched foot and tumbled down the short flight of stairs, landing in a heap at his sensei's feet.

The man did nothing, instead acting like nothing had happened despite noticing the large gash on the boy's forehead from hitting his head on the bottom step. Slowly, Naruto picked himself up, dusted himself off and walked out of the room, head held as high as possible. As the door slid shut behind him, only two people had their eyes on it long after everyone else had returned their attention to their sensei's lecture.

One was Uchiha Sasuke. He simply stared at the last spot he'd seen Naruto, his expressionless face giving away none of his thoughts. The other was Hyuuga Hinata, who was highly distressed at the state Uzumaki Naruto had left the room. Surely he didn't deserve to be treated like that. What had he done? Still, the fact that he could still walk away proudly after all that was something the Hyuuga heiress found extremely admirable.

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~Ichiraku Ramen~

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After standing outside for nearly an hour, Naruto finally realized that he wasn't going to be let back in any time soon. Nor did he feel like attending the lesson, since his thoughts were elsewhere, locked in a terrible place.

He left the Ninja Academy without any trouble. If any teachers had seen him, he doubted that they would have stopped him anyway. After wandering through the village streets earning himself nothing but hateful glares and even being forced to duck as an old lady threw her bloodstained kitchen knife at him, he finally sought refuge inside the one place he wouldn't be turned away from: Old Man Teuchi's roadside ramen stand.

He slumped down wearily on one of the stools at the counter, not bothering to look at the menu since he knew it by heart. Today had been a harrowing and exhausting day for him, and it was only lunch time. He couldn't wait to enjoy a steaming hot bowl of miso ramen. Maybe more than just one, since he still felt terrible about the previous night, and had skipped breakfast as a result. Soon enough, one of the few people who treated him like a human being appeared from behind the curtain hiding the storeroom of the ramen shop.

"Ah, Naruto, you're here early. What can I get you?" asked Teuchi with a grin. Naruto grinned back, smiling for the first time that day. He loved how Teuchi and his daughter Ayame didn't ask him the usual questions like 'Why aren't you at the Academy?' or 'Did something happen? Do you want to talk about it?' whenever he turned up during Academy hours. They never pried when he wasn't in the mood, yet would listen when he needed someone to talk to. With people like these as his friends, he hadn't gone crazy from the stressful torture that was his life.

Yet.

"A bowl of miso ramen and keep them coming." he replied, placing his head on the polished wooden counter tiredly. He still had bags under his eyes from his sleepless night, and the horrific images that had haunted his mind all night were still popping up every now and then.

"Coming right up." he heard the noodle pot begin to boil and the clattering of utensils as Teuchi got to work. The soothing hubbub of assorted kitchen sounds lulled Naruto into a sense of security, which then lead on to much deserved sleep.

With the Kyuubi around, that sleep wasn't going to happen anytime soon. The instant Naruto fell into the land of slumber, he was bombarded with visions of countless towns and villages being destroyed, people being sadistically tortured and killed by his own hand. Of course, those visions were from the perspective of the Nine Tails, but that did little to lessen the impact of what he was seeing.

Finally, the visions settled on one distinct memory. The Kyuubi was very insistent on showing this to Naruto in its entirety, yet the disturbing vision jolted Naruto out of his sleep every time in a cold sweat. He got a little further with each viewing, and Naruto really wished that he didn't.

He started off in the forest at night, feeling the cool earth beneath his paws. As his claws extended, the soft dirt began to churn as each gleaming claw dug deeply into the ground. His nine tails whipped about, knocking the trees behind him over with little effort. In the distance, Naruto could see a village, could smell the various scents that accompanied human dwellings.

A wicked grin stretched over his orange-red muzzle, baring his sharp teeth to his soon-to-be victims. As a cold breeze washed over him from the south, he flexed his powerful hind legs and leapt forward, heading towards the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

As he drew nearer, spotlights shone out into the darkness, eventually focusing on him. He roared at the full moon, before leaping over the village gates and landing square in the centre of the meat district, the scent of blood and freshly cut meat boosting his bloodlust. With a sweep of his giant tails, he levelled three blocks in a single move, signalling the beginning of the night of terror that would become one of the blackest stains on Konoha's history.

As the citizen's began to panic and run around in the streets, looking for loved ones or the safety of the emergency bunkers, Naruto watched as his arms... the Kyuubi's red arms began to swipe at the masses, sending sprays of blood all over the buildings, streets and the terrified citizens who watched the bloody spectacle frozen in horror.

The Kyuubi began to play with the people before killing them, cutting off their legs so they couldn't escape, then experimenting in various ways, seeing what he could do to them before they died. He sawed off limbs, cut people horizontally and vertically in two and separated them as far as they could go before their entrails tore.

And all the while, the Kyuubi was laughing, a gruff rumbling growl that chilled Naruto's blood. The vision skipped as Naruto tried to stir, with the Kyuubi attempting to keep him in his mind. Finally, the jumbled emotions settled, and Naruto found himself staring at the woman who was torn to pieces and lying on a rock. But right now, she was whole, standing up and facing the Kyuubi with a ferocious glare on her face, her arms outstretched to block the giant beast's path. The rock she was soon to end up on was only a few feet behind her, and Naruto watched with growing fear as the Kyuubi raised his right paw, flexing his claws as he prepared for the final strike.

As the paw sped towards the young woman, Naruto closed his eyes and screamed. He didn't want to see this sick twisted memory of the Kyuubi's attack on the village. He just couldn't take it anymore. When he opened his eyes, the woman and the destroyed village were gone. Instead, he found himself staring sideways into the light brown eyes of Ayame, the ramen chef's daughter. Her own head was lying on the counter facing him and her hand was on his shoulder, shaking him vigorously.

Once she saw his eyes open, she sat up in relief, standing on the kitchen side of the counter. "Naruto-kun, have you been sleeping well? It's not like you to fall asleep when ramen is being made." she was only acting natural but inside she was dying to ask him why he had been whimpering in his sleep, finally yelling out as the tears in his eyes flowed freely down his cheek.

She offered him a tissue, which he accepted with an embarrassed smile and a mild blush. She turned around as he wiped at his eyes, grabbing the bowl of ramen that her father had finished preparing. When she turned back to face the blonde boy, he was grinning and trying his best to look like his usual self. But the pain was still there in his eyes, and she desperately wanted to ask what was wrong, to comfort him and try to help the lonely boy who was ostracized by his own village. But she knew he wouldn't talk unless he felt like it, and she would be ready to listen when he did. She just hoped he would talk to her and her father soon.

He barely made it through one bowl and when he left, leaving the coins for payment on the counter along with a generous tip, the family of two watched him go, even more worried than before. Naruto never ate only one bowl. It was a fact of life. Something was definitely wrong.

* * *

~Naruto's Apartment~

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Naruto warily got into bed, fearing that the voice of the Kyuubi would come to him again. He hadn't spoken to Naruto all day, but this was where he first started taunting the poor blonde and showed him the horrific insights from his past.

**"Uzumaki Naruto, are you ready to learn more about the day I attacked Konoha?"**

"Why do you keep showing me these terrifying visions?! Leave me alone!" Naruto yelled, placing his hands over his ears in a vain attempt to block out the growling voice in his mind.

**"Why? To break you of course."**

"Why would you want to- OW!" he yelped as a small but deep cut opened in the palm of his hand and bled profusely. As he glanced around in a panic for a cloth to staunch the bleeding, the Kyuubi's voice rang in his ears even as he watched in amazement as the cut sealed itself, leaving a small scar that soon faded away, leaving his hand unblemished.

**"Boy, do you not tire of being hated for something you did not do?"**

Naruto froze in the act of wiping the blood off his hand and wrist with a rag he found under his bed. He nodded hesitantly, almost imperceptibly. The Kyuubi chuckled darkly as he felt Naruto's faint glimmer of hope on the other side of the seal. A young boy like him was too trusting, too easy to manipulate.

"Y-Yes. Do you know how to get them to stop hating me?" that hopeful tone, that childish belief that one can depend on others to solve one's problems made the Nine Tails grin within the recesses of Naruto's mind.

**"It's simple. Kill them all. The dead cannot harm the living."**

"SHUT UP!" Naruto bellowed, forcing the Kyuubi's voice out of his mind. He shivered in the sudden silence, feeling crushed as the Kyuubi offer of a way out had turned out to be another one of his sick jokes. Naruto wasn't about to go out and kill random citizens. They would just fear him more because of it.

But them again... if they truly feared him, they wouldn't mistreat him...

The blonde quickly shook the thought out of his head and slapped himself for good measure. He was better than that, even if he had fantasized about hurting the crueller villagers in the past, before meeting Ayame and her father. He had simply accepted his place as the lowest of the low, no arguments made. That was his life and now that he knew he was the container of the Nine Tailed Fox, he was finally given the reason why the villagers treated him like dirt.

_'But it's not my fault.'_ thought Naruto. He couldn't help having the Kyuubi within him. He leaned back against his pathetically flat pillow and rolled onto his side.

It wasn't fair.

**"That's right pup. It isn't fair."** murmured the Kyuubi as he drifted off into nightmare filled sleep.

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~Ninja Academy~

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After a few months, Naruto had begun to get used to the visions. They simply became a part of his life, something he would have to deal with to continue living. Little did he know he was slowly becoming desensitized to extreme violence, as per the Kyuubi's plans. Soon, the Fox would work on his kind nature, turning the blonde into an enraged, unfeeling killer.

All at age seven.

As he walked into the classroom, keeping his head down to ignore the glares of his sensei and the stares of his fellow classmates, a student tossed a balled up piece of paper at his head. It hit him soundly before landing with a suspiciously loud thump on the floor near his feet. Naruto bent down and scooped up the ball of paper on his way to his seat, stepping carefully over the outstretched foot of the obnoxious girl sitting in one of the aisle seats. She scowled at his retreating form, before getting together with her friends to plan a nastier unpleasant surprise for the blonde.

As he reached his seat at the window, he was vaguely surprised to find that a new seating arrangement had been organized without his knowledge. With the addition of a new student, who been placed next to Sasuke three rows below (to the ire of every female student in the room), Naruto finally had a partner with him at his lonely desk. He recognized the short dark hair immediately, feeling the worry that had been building up in his chest fade away.

Hyuuga Hinata was far too quiet, apparently nice, and hadn't bullied him outwardly in all the time he'd known her. In fact, she hardly did anything at all, which was why he'd instantly recognized her head without seeing her face. She was always looking down and hiding her pale lavender eyes, which some people found disturbing. It was sad that an already shy girl like Hinata was bullied for how she looked, but that's just how the world was. Maybe she could relate to his pain. On a significantly lesser scale of course. She didn't have paper bound rocks thrown at her head as she entered the room; Naruto had opened the small ball of paper to find a collection of stones and the word 'Loser' scrawled on the paper in red ink.

He took his seat and yanked open the window, tossing the rocks out one by one as their sensei began to drone on about the fourth Hokage. He supposed he would have been interested, if he hadn't known that he was the reason Naruto was hated for merely existing.

He was surprised to feel someone tapping on his shoulder; turning around, he saw Hyuuga Hinata quickly retracting her hand against her chest, whereby she began pressing her index fingers together nervously. She stared down at the desk for a few seconds, before visibly forcing herself to look Naruto in the eyes. "A-Ano, are you okay? W-Were you h-hurt?"

Naruto eyed her for a few seconds, briefly suspicious of the seemingly innocent question. She began to squirm and fidget under his unblinking gaze, but to her credit, she maintained eye contact with the blonde. That was a first, so Naruto decided to cautiously reply. He had been tricked by his classmates before, but he was far too soft and still believed in the 'there's good in everyone' school of thought to not take every chance he was given to fit in and be accepted, even if it wasn't the case.

"I'm fine. The paper around the rocks softened the blow." Naruto replied, his fake grin in place.

"T-Thank g-goodness. I-I'm glad to h-hear it." Naruto merely nodded in acknowledgement and turned back to the window, resuming his bored contemplation of the world outside the classroom. Hinata opened her mouth once more to say something else but thought the better of it. Naruto clearly did not want to talk, and she was worried he might become irritated with her if she asked too many questions. Only Kami knew how many times she watched Sasuke become fed up with his fan club to know what would happen if she tried to speak with Naruto too much and overstayed her welcome.

Then again, Naruto was nothing like Sasuke.

Hinata couldn't help a small, furtive smile at the prospect of sitting next to Naruto for the next few years, which she quickly hid behind her hand. Unfortunately, this did not go unnoticed by the conniving Ami, who had failed to trip Naruto up on his way to his desk.

* * *

~Naruto's Apartment~

* * *

Naruto arrived home after dinner at Ichiraku's, enjoying the feeling of satisfaction that came with eating a hearty meal of hot ramen. He'd been able to stomach his full quota of ramen, temporarily putting Ayame and Teuchi's worries to rest. He counted it as a small blessing that he had people worrying about him, but he rather wished they didn't. After all, Naruto could only deal with these problems himself. If he told the Ichiraku team about the Nine Tails, they might shun him like the rest. Truth be told, he had an odd feeling Teuchi knew, but he'd rather not risk losing one of the few good things in his life because of the damn Kyuubi, especially since it had already stolen so much from him.

The Kyuubi let out an indignant growl before sending him a particularly gruesome mental image of a cowering couple being smashed into a red smear between one of the Kyuubi's forepaws and the hard, densely packed dirt floor of the Konoha Shopping District. Years of stamping feet had compacted the clay into a surface rivalling cement, ultimately dooming the young lovers to their bloody end.

Naruto yawned pointedly before heading to the shower. "Yeah, yeah." he muttered nonchalantly as he stepped over a large patch of slippery moss growing on his grimy bathroom floor tiles. The place flooded constantly, and Naruto had long since given up on cleaning the place. He was only seven after all.

A rumbling from the Nine Tails that Naruto only identified later as the Kyuubi's laughter echoed through his head, giving the blonde cause for worry as he settled down for the first dreamless sleep he'd had in several months.

Unbeknown to Naruto, the Kyuubi had begun the next stage of his plan, finally satisfied over the conditioning of his container's mind. As the boy slept, the Fox began leaking tiny amounts of its red chakra directly into his brain, slowly affecting his mind and future dreams. The hate filled rage imbued chakra ran smoothly through Naruto's enhanced coils, beginning the slow poisoning of his mind.

* * *

~Ninja Academy~

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto sat waiting patiently, holding a small letter written on pink strawberry scented paper in one hand, and the envelope it came in in the other. The short note that had been slipped into his desk told him to meet with his secret admirer after school by the old Academy swing. So here he was, waiting patiently for the mystery girl.

Of course he wasn't a complete idiot. The letter had been written in an eerily familiar red ink that was far from innocent and feminine, reminding him of some painful experience he'd had a few weeks prior. He'd had trouble remembering though, and decided to wait to see who would show up anyway. It was probably some prank by his classmates since no one in their right mind would or should admire him.

Even without the Kyuubi's sarcastic mutterings from the depths of his mind, Naruto was cautious enough to know that something was up. What he didn't know was that this newfound suspicion was part of the Kyuubi's reconditioning of his mind. Previously, Naruto would have leapt at the chance to meet an admirer and wouldn't have dreamed of believing it was a cruel prank.

Uzumaki Naruto was, without his knowledge, being taught the ways of the world and the cold ugly truths that one must accept to survive.

There were roughly ten seconds left until the letter writer arrived, so Naruto made himself comfortable, stifling the slight feeling of excitement and hope building up in his chest. He was at least ninety eight percent sure of how this little encounter would go down.

The sun began to set, the bright orange rays blinding the boy and prompting him to turn his head away. As he did so, he noticed a short cloaked figure standing in front the entrance (and only exit) of the Academy. His eyes hardened, and he slowly stood up, assuming the sloppy Academy stance that only he had been taught by Mizuki-sensei in the hopes that it would get him killed (not that Naruto was aware of it).

"Naruto!" an obviously falsely sweet voice called out from behind him, and he winced as he turned around, realizing who it was before even laying eyes on her. The irritating girl who always tripped him when he walked by, Tanaka Ami, stood with the setting sun directly behind her, making it difficult for Naruto to see her. She had her hands on her hips and a smug look on her face.

"I'm betting you wrote the letter huh? What the hell do you want?" asked Naruto, surprising himself with the harshness of his tone. Ami's smile became a little strained as she replied.

"That's rude Naruto-kun! Why would you say that to your secret admirer?" she attempted to feign shock and hurt, which was offset by her slightly manic and very mocking grin. Her short twin pigtails which pointed upwards reminded Naruto of a picture of a demon he'd seen in one of his history books, prompting a mocking grin of his own.

"There's no way I'd ever accept someone like you as an admirer anyway! So tell me what you want or I'm leaving. You're wasting my time." Ami scowled and raised her hand. Suddenly, their fellow classmates and a few villagers he recognised leapt from behind bushes and trees, or appeared in puffs of smoke from rock henges. Naruto quickly glanced behind him; the hooded figured blocking the entrance dropped their hood, revealing it to be Uchiha Sasuke. His dark eyes were watching Naruto with vague curiosity, taunting him with unspoken insults. A wave of anger washed over Naruto, and he raised his right hand and gave the smug prick the middle finger before facing a now livid Ami.

"We are sick of you Uzumaki! You always ruin everything! You have no friends and no family and you're a nuisance; you should just crawl into a hole and die so we don't have to see your ugly face around here anymore!" Naruto glanced around slowly as she finished her tirade, staring everyone present in the eye until they looked away uncomfortably. It appeared that everyone in the class was here, though some appeared to have been forced to come; Sakura and Ino were holding Hinata between them as she struggled in vain to escape while Shino, Shikamaru and Choji were present since Kiba had promised them a meal of their choice if they came. Shikamaru scratch the back of his head and grumbled.

"I didn't know you guys were gonna attack Naruto, and I don't want anything to do with it. This is troublesome, just leave him alone. Come on Choji, I didn't sign up for this." Kiba blocked their way, simply shaking his head. Shikamaru sighed and sat down abruptly on the floor, before lying down on his back and staring up at the clouds. Choji whipped out a packet of chips and began munching away, though it was clear from his tense shoulders that he wanted to be anywhere but here.

The villagers present pulled out knives, axes and woks, staring at Naruto with fear and hatred burning in their eyes. Naruto recognised them as the ones who attacked him when they were drunk, or when he was too close to their homes. The less knowledgeable students simply cracked their knuckles or readied their kunai and shuriken.

Ami herself had a kunai gripped tightly in each hand, the sharp blades catching the light of the dying sun and glinting menacingly. She looked into Naruto's eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but faltered when she spotted the unnerving grin on Naruto's lips.

"Y-You're a troublemaker and a menace." her voice started off hesitantly and slowly grew in volume as she gained confidence. "Everyone in the village hates you, all the parents tell us to stay away from you! So why are you still here huh?"

"Why?" replied Naruto, his face blank and devoid of emotion. "I don't know." Hinata felt tears well up in her eyes, wishing she could help the blonde she had come to respect. Sakura and Ino had let her go, and seemed to be having second thoughts.

"Hey, I think he's annoying and I hate him as much as the next girl, but isn't this going too far? He hasn't done anything that bad right?" whispered Sakura as she nudged Ino.

"Yeah, I thought they were just going to play a prank or something. I don't think I want to see this." Ino murmured back, worry lines creasing her brow.

"This is it Uzumaki Naruto! If you won't leave, we'll make you! Konohagakure has no place for losers like you!" Naruto turned around, intent on leaving, but Ami's next words stopped him cold. "I can see why your deadbeat parents ditched you, who would want a son that had the Kyu-ARGH!"

_'She knows.'_ had been the last coherent thought that crossed his mind before rage overcame Naruto. He wasn't about to let that little secret slip out. The comment about his parents hadn't fazed him, it's wasn't as if he knew anything about them to defend their honour. But he didn't need people of his generation knowing about the Kyuubi; his life was hell enough as it was. His eyes flashed from blue to bright red, his nails extended until they were almost claw-like and he quickly closed the distance between them and sunk his nail/claws into the right side of Ami's face.

It was an odd sensation having warm blood running down his palm and wrist, the scent of rust in the air as the red liquid of life soaked into the orange fabric of his jacket. His little and ring fingers were buried in her nose and cheek, his middle finger had carved its way into the soft jelly that was her right eye and her scalp and temple had become unwilling hosts for his index finger and thumb. Ami's one good eye was looking at him in silent shock; he could feel the horrified gazes of the people present and it made him feel... excited. His bloodlust was growing and he clenched his fingers tightly before swiping his hand and tearing at the bitch's face, anticipating the delicious screams that he had heard in his dreams for so many months.

He wasn't disappointed. Ami screamed to the heavens and clutched at her face. She tried to walk away and fell to the ground. A steady stream of blood dripped off her ruined nose and chin and onto the floor, quickly forming a puddle in the dust. No one dared to approach her; all eyes were on the red eyed, blood soaked Naruto standing over her, grinning viciously.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata's most quiet whisper was clearly heard by everyone in the unnatural silence. Naruto's eyes quickly sought hers, making the pale lavender eyed girl flinch back in shock. The fear in her eyes registered with the sane part of Naruto pushed deep into the recesses of his mind. His eyes slowly turned back to blue, and he took in the terrified stares of his classmates and fellow villagers and the blood on his hand. He reached out towards Ami with his unbloodied and now normal looking left hand but thought the better of it. He quickly leapt away, bounding over roof tops as he headed for home, unaware of Sasuke's coldly appraising eyes following him. He had watched the dead last in class abandon all manner of finesse and technique, yet cause irreversible damage with a single, unpredictable and highly unorthodox strike.

The last Uchiha had found himself the next stepping stone on the road to killing his brother.


	2. Facing True Demons, Inside and Out

**Breaking Point: The Darkness Within**

* * *

**Chapter Two ~ Facing True Demons, Inside and Out**

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"Hokage-sama, how should we proceed?"

"Leave everything as it is for now. I will speak with the boy personally."

"As you wish, Hokage-sama." the ANBU officer bowed respectfully and vanished from the Hokage's office, leaving the Third Hokage to his thoughts.

_'The ANBU are getting restless. It's understandable though, it wouldn't bode well if the villagers were to find out about today's issue.'_ he mused, stepping up to the window that overlooked Konohagakure. The sun was setting, and the shopkeepers were packing up for the day while the other citizens made their way home to their families, blissfully unaware of Naruto and Ami's little mishap a couple hours earlier.

He seriously doubted the girl's family would call it a 'little mishap' though.

He had gathered from the students and villagers present that Naruto had suddenly attacked his fellow student in a fit of rage, and had been beseeched by Ami's parents to have the Kyuubi's container locked away from the public, for the public's safety.

Sarutobi had politely declined their request, promising to deal with the situation personally. He had a suspicion that Naruto's role in the proceedings differed greatly from what the children had told him. Somehow, the students who had informed the teachers of Ami's condition had failed to come up with a reason why all of Naruto's classmates, and a few of his least supportive fellow villagers, had been gathered at the Academy after school, well past the time when they should have been at home.

Still, the damage wrought on the poor girl was most certainly a serious issue, and from what he had gathered from the witnesses, it seemed the Kyuubi had begun to influence the boy. Sarutobi resolved to speak with Naruto as soon as possible; he needed to nip this in the bud now, before Naruto was completely under the Kyuubi's influence.

If only he had known he was too late.

* * *

~Naruto's Apartment~

* * *

"What have I done?" Naruto asked of himself. His blank eyes stared emotionlessly at the blood on his hand, now dry and congealed on his skin. He wasn't panicking. He wasn't afraid. He truly didn't understand why he had attacked Ami so violently...

...and enjoyed every second of it.

He sat on the edge of his bed, his dump of an apartment slowly darkening as the dying rays of the sun streaming in the through his window faded into twilight. The blood on his hands turned from dark red to black as the sun slipped below the horizon, submerging him in darkness. For a few moments he was blind, then as the first few stars of the night became visible, the voice of the Nine Tails echoed within his mind.

**"Well pup? How did it feel?"**

"It felt... good..."

The Kyuubi let out a short bark of laughter. **"Of course it did. That insolent bitch made your life miserable, and now you've paid her back in full."**

"But was it right to take her sight from her? I mean, you need your vision to survive as a ninja..."

**"Think of it as taking an eye for an eye. Literally."** Naruto supposed a few months ago, he would have objected to that inaccurate and very twisted joke. Now, he was worried when he realized he actually appreciated the humour in the Kyuubi's words.

"But why? Why did I enjoy hurting a fellow classmate, no, a fellow villager like that?" he asked numbly. The Kyuubi snorted derisively.

**"Are you a fool? That girl is not a fellow villager, none of them are! If they truly were, then they would treat you as the hero that protects them from me, not as the demon they so rightly fear."**

"I see."

**"No you do not, you dullard. Let me clear the doubt from your heart. You're purpose in life as of now is to seek revenge." **the Kyuubi took a breath before beginning, which made Naruto briefly wonder how the beast survived within him, if he still needed to breathe. **"You are known as a 'Jinchuriki'. That is quite simply a person who has a Tailed Beast sealed within them. While you selfishly believe that you suffer alone, there are in fact eight more cursed wretches like yourself."**

"Eight more like me...?" Naruto asked, his interest piqued.

**"That is correct. There are nine Tailed Beasts, and I, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, am the greatest of them all. Next is the eight tailed Octopus demon, followed by the seven tailed ****Kabutomushi (horned beetle) demon****, the six tailed Slug demon, the five tailed Horse demon, the four tailed Monkey demon, the three tailed Turtle demon, the two tailed Bakeneko (monster cat) demon and the weakest of them all, the one tailed Tanuki demon. We demon spirits were hunted by the Hidden Villages to be used as secret weapons in the constant Shinobi World Wars you stupid humans are so fond of having. Once the humans realized that they couldn't contain our raw power as it was, they developed a sealing technique to lock us away inside a human of their choosing, so that our mighty power was theirs to command."**

"Uh huh..." Naruto repeated, struggling to keep his attention on the words of the Kyuubi. A seven year old could only focus for so long after all, and it was even worse for an energy powerhouse like him.

**"Pay attention you thrice damned pup! This next part is the most crucial part of my speech."** once the Kyuubi was sure that all mental distractions had been eliminated from the boy's mind, he continued. **"Each of the five great nations has a Jinchuriki. Each one has lived the same life as you, felt the same pain as you, been ostracized by the village they protect every moment of their lives just like you. But the Kages keep the Jinchuriki around anyway, like the Third Hokage does with you. Most of us Tailed Beast are nigh impossible to control, indeed, the one tailed Shukaku successfully drove his container insane from lack of sleep and forced upon the boy his love of senseless killing. But if a Hidden Village has a Tailed Beast, then they have power. A village with a Jinchuriki is more powerful than those without."**

"So we're just a symbol of power rather than something actually useful?"

**"Precisely. It's quite heartening to realize even complete idiots can have their moments." **he said mockingly.

"So then why do you say my purpose in life is to seek revenge? Do you want me to kill the Old Man?" a small part of him instantly rebelled against his treasonous thoughts. He had to admit, he wouldn't have dared to consider it a few months ago. What was happening to him? Still, he was just asking, he wasn't about to go out and murder one of the few people who treated him well... right?

**"Think grander."**

"The village?"

**"Grander than that."**

"The Land of Fire?"

**"You truly are deserving of the title 'dead last loser' despite its lack of eloquence. I would have bestowed 'idiotic spineless maggot' upon you had I been a human. Thank the Biju that I'm not."**

"I think you mean 'thank Kami'. You Tailed Beasts aren't that powerful."

**"Silence you insolent worm!"** as the Kyuubi's roar filled his ears, a massive cut opened up on his left forearm. The blonde didn't flinch, and soon enough the injury healed, leaving his arm bloodstained yet unmarked. **"I want you to seek revenge against all who wronged us. Do you think we Biju enjoy being locked up within you pathetic humans? I want you to destroy everything! Together we shall crush the Hidden Villages for being so presumptuous as to think they could control us. And once that is complete, I shall escape from your unworthy disease ridden body and kill you. Slowly."**

"Yeah, yeah. Look, I don't think we can do this on our own. Even if you are 'the greatest of the Biju'."

'_**This boy is getting brave. I suppose it was inevitable.' **_thought the Kyuubi. Out loud he replied **"Watch you words boy, I guarantee they will come back to haunt you. And in a rare show of intelligence, you are correct. It... is difficult to admit."**

"You want me to recruit the other Jinchuriki and destroy the ninja world as we know it?"

**"Quite simply put, yes."**

"I'll have to think about it. And I want to speak to the Hokage and clear up a few things before I do."

**"Do as you see fit. I care not, so long as my plan is eventually set in motion."** the Kyuubi muttered, sinking back into the recesses of Naruto's mind. Inside, he was smirking, enjoying how his plan would come to fruition so quickly.

_**"The Third Hokage will no doubt have things to say that will push the boy over the edge. And I shall be there to stoke the flames of revenge when it happens." **_

Naruto was finally left in peace. Right now, he wanted to be alone as he thought over what had happened and what the Kyuubi had said. He stared at the blood coating both of his arms, remembering the warm feeling and the tantalizing scent when it first soaked his arm, how he had enjoyed staring into Ami's one good eye, grinning hungrily, watching the fear and pain overcome her earlier haughtiness.

He brought his right arm up to his nose, breathing in deeply. The smell of Ami's blood was faint but still present. His heart began to pound, and a vicious grin formed on his lips as he re-experienced that insatiable lust for blood he had felt as he attacked her. He had wanted to do more, so much more. With the Kyuubi's memories, he knew how to torture her without killing her, ensuring he had the maximum time to enjoy his victim's pain.

He brought his arm closer to his mouth, sticking his tongue out hesitantly. His arm was quivering, and his breathing became ragged with excitement. His tongue was a centimetre away from the blood on his arm when his eyes widened in shock. Naruto let his arm drop and stared blankly at the floor in horror, where a small puddle of his own blood had pooled, the result of the Kyuubi's attack. The blood appeared glossy and black in the dim light of the stars streaming through his window.

Naruto leaped to his feet and hurried through his pitch black apartment to his bathroom. He leapt into the shower and began to scrub at his arms until they were raw.

* * *

~Sasuke's Apartment~

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On the more luxurious side of Konoha, near where the old Uchiha compound still stood deserted and derelict, Uchiha Sasuke lay in his bed, gazing up at the smooth white ceiling of his apartment. It was a good deal bigger than Naruto's and in much better condition; the last Uchiha was favoured by the village council given his heritage.

A smirk lifted the corners of his usually solemn lips. He had barely believed what he had seen that afternoon. The dead last dobe Naruto had suddenly become a force to be reckoned with. Those red eyes of his as he attacked that irritating girl spoke of rage and previously unknown power just waiting to be revealed. And that smile...

Sasuke shivered, with fear or anticipation he didn't know. That horrific smile had been a far cry from Naruto's usual stupid grin. It was a hungry smile, a look that said the blonde thirsted for violence. That was the look of an animal that had captured its prey, and was taunting it before putting it out of its misery.

Sasuke flexed his right hand, remembering how Naruto's had sunk his hand so effortlessly into Ami's face. Naruto must have had some unknown Kekkei Genkai. That was the only explanation for the change in his eyes and the lengthening of his nails into claws.

The raven haired boy rolled onto his side, closing his fist with decisive finality. Tomorrow, the class had practice sparring matches in the afternoon. There, he would get to test his strength against Naruto's. He had been shocked when the blonde had flipped him off before the attack, suggesting that he felt more than just rivalry towards him. He must have truly hated Sasuke for an easy going guy like him to do such a thing. As Itachi had said on that fateful night, hatred was the way to power. Despite not wanting to take his brother's advice, Sasuke could see that what he had said was true.

Yes, that was it. With Naruto hating him, he'd fight at full strength after hearing a few carefully chosen taunts. Up against that, Sasuke would be pushed to his limits and would be able to gain power much faster than through the Academy program.

And with that power, he'd be able to kill his brother and avenge his clan.

* * *

~Ninja Academy~

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"Everyone, please leave your seats and prepare for this afternoon's practice sparring matches! You have ten minutes to get your gear together and head down to the training grounds. Mizuki-sensei is waiting for you there, and will give you further instructions once you are all assembled. Get moving!"

The students replied with a collective "Hai!" and set about preparing for the final lesson of the day, rushing in earnest to get down to the training field. It wasn't often they got to work with Mizuki-sensei, who normally took the third year classes so today was a special lesson. Mizuki was very skilled in taijutsu; a few lessons with him could set anyone having difficulty with the Academy style on the right path. Except for Naruto, though most people put that down to him being the idiotic dead last in class, who couldn't be helped by anyone. Most of his classmates did not see it as a failure on Mizuki's part, or a reflection of his teaching ability. Naruto was just a moron beyond help, who would die the minute he stepped out on his first mission, if he ever graduated from the Academy.

Of course, there were a select few, Hyuuga Hinata and Nara Shikamaru amongst them, who realized that Mizuki was sabotaging Naruto, teaching him poor stances that left him vulnerable and unguarded against basic, easily dodged killing blows. Hence, why Naruto was always picked first for the sparring matches, so that he could be left on the sidelines early on after being defeated so that the proper matches could begin. Those that knew of his handicap were either too shy or lazy to confront anyone (Hinata and Shikamaru) or silently agreed with Mizuki's plan and turned a blind eye to the proceedings (the other students).

As Hinata rose from her desk, she realized that Naruto had not yet made any attempt to move. In fact, he appeared to be asleep, his head pillowed on his arms and face turned towards the window. Hinata realized that she would have to get his attention and could feel her heartbeat speeding up. Interaction with other people was difficult for her, but with Naruto it was pretty much impossible. Still, she had to try. She felt terrible when Naruto was ignored or left behind, and truly wished to help him, cursing her debilitating shyness when it prevented her from doing so.

She reached out a hand tentatively, hesitating every so often as it drew closer to his shoulder. The fabric of his jumpsuit was inches away from her hand, the familiar shade of orange outwardly expressing his inner warmth and cheerfulness.

Hinata hesitated again when her hand was just about to close upon his shoulder. Her heart sounded like it was pounding behind her ears, obscuring every other sound in the room. Naruto hadn't been his usual self yesterday. In fact, he'd been almost frightening. Hinata had been shocked to see his normally grinning face twisted in a furious snarl and slightly terrified when she'd caught a glimpse of his rather evil looking smile as he sliced open Ami's face.

That wasn't the Naruto she knew and admired, and she wished for the strength to ask him about it, to help him through whatever difficulty he was facing. But that strength would never come, not so long as she lived under the disappointed gaze of her father and the hateful glares of her cousin Neji. She was a coward, and it made her feel ashamed to realize she couldn't get over it to help the one she truly admired.

She gulped audibly and placed her hand gently on his shoulder, barely brushing his jacket with her palm as best she could, despite her inner urge to touch him, to get closer to him. The second she placed her hand on him though, she certainly hadn't expected Naruto to wake up so suddenly.

With a burst of energy the blonde was on his feet, and before she knew it, his quivering fist had halted just before her nose, bumping lightly against the tip. It was obvious he had barely restrained himself in time once he saw who had woken him, and they stayed as they were for a few moments, simply staring at each other in the dead silence of the now empty classroom.

Somehow Naruto had managed to grab her wrist with one hand and push her back while setting up his right hook with the other. Naruto's blank expression changed to one of curiosity when Hinata's face flushed. After a few moments of staring into his eyes, Hinata had realized who she was gazing at and felt the warmth of his hand on her bare wrist. Naruto's eyes widened in realization and he quickly dropped his raised fist and released her wrist. Unfortunately, Hinata had been pushed back by his retaliation and was only still on her feet because he had been holding her up. The second he released her, Hinata's legs buckled and she landed with a bump on the stairs in the middle of the seating area.

"Oh sorry Hinata-san!" he exclaimed, having the decency to look ashamed before lending her a hand. She took it hesitantly and was quickly pulled to her feet. _'He's strong,'_ she thought. _'As expected of Naruto-kun.'_

"Um," he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Where is everyone?"

"T-They all went to the training f-field for the afternoon sparring m-matches. I wanted to w-wake you before I left s-so..."

He gave her his familiar grin, though it seemed a little strained, like he was putting it on for her sake. "Oh, thanks! Shall we head over there too?"

"H-Hai..."

As he led the way, Hinata noticed the tension in his stiffly held shoulders. Was he worried about something? Was he still bothered by the fact that he'd almost punched her? Or did he expect something to happen at the sparring matches?

* * *

~Ninja Academy Training Grounds~

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As the children assembled at the edge of the field, Mizuki-sensei did a quick head count and realized two were missing. Before he could ask the kids about it, he spotted the Hyuuga heiress and the Kyuubi brat slowly making their way to the training ground. His mouth tightened, his jaw clenched and Mizuki tried his best to hold back a disgusted scowl. He could feel the students eyes on him and was required by the Hokage's Law to reveal nothing, though all he wanted to do was warn the children about the danger in their midst.

He quickly forced a smile as Naruto wordlessly opened the gate for a flustered Hinata, waving them over with false cheeriness. "Uzumaki! Hyuuga! So glad you could join us!" as Hinata nodded without looking at him as usual, he noticed something different about Naruto. Normally, the boy was sickeningly happy to have someone be nice and pay attention to him, but today, he watched Mizuki's face impassively, almost guardedly, before giving him a grim smile.

"Good morning Mizuki-sensei. I look forward to today's lesson." he truly did. What Hinata had mistaken as tension had actually been Naruto trying to keep his body from quivering in excitement. With each step that led them towards the training grounds, Naruto could feel his thirst for blood growing, much like the time he had attacked Ami.

His attempts to remain normal had been read as awkward tension by Hinata, though he wasn't aware of this and had been confused by how flustered Hinata became the longer they walked together. He hadn't even said a word to her since the classroom so what could be bothering her?

Naruto pushed the Hinata-related thoughts out of his mind as he stood a little ways away from the rest of the group, as usual. Hinata slunk quietly to the back of the group, whereupon several girls questioned her on what Naruto had done to her to get her face all red and flustered. As Hinata stuttered and tried to refute their accusations of what Naruto had done to her, the blonde felt himself smiling unconsciously as he thought over the events of the morning.

When he had walked into class that morning, slightly tardy, he was stunned when his sensei made no comment, acting as if he wasn't there. The students themselves avoided his gaze, and as he climbed the stairs to his seat, the empty seat where Ami used to sit made him smile. It seemed fear was the best way to deal with his problems, despite what he'd thought previously about the Kyuubi's suggestion to kill everyone.

His classmate's eyes flicked from Ami's seat to Naruto's hand when they thought he wasn't looking. For the first time since he had entered the Academy, he made it to his seat unharmed and unhindered. He caught Kiba's gaze and flexed his hand while grinning, exposing his slightly elongated canines. The normally loudmouthed boy gulped and faced the front as quickly as he could.

The only one who didn't seem completely afraid was Hinata, who stuttered out a "Good morning." to which he responded in kind. Naruto gazed out the window with a contented smile, laying his head on the desk.

This was how it should be.

Naruto was brought out of his musing by Mizuki's voice. "Uzumaki, you're up first." as Naruto made his way to the circle of dirt used to mark out the sparring area, Mizuki gestured to the rest of the class. "So who would like volunteer, or will I have to pick someone. Kiba?" Kiba usually jumped at the opportunity to fight Naruto, but today he shook his head quickly, almost fearfully. _'That's not like him. Did something happen?' _their sensei thought suspiciously.

Mizuki surveyed the rest of the class. None of them met his eye, and he had noticed the odd lack of taunts towards Naruto. Sakura and Ino stayed quiet, not even taking the time to swoon over their precious Sasuke, who stepped forward with a look of subtle determination. Considering how expressionless he usually was, this was quite a drastic change.

"I'll fight him."

"Excellent! Step into the arena Uchiha."

As he moved to join Naruto in the sparring zone, Mizuki noticed several of the girls trying to quietly call him back, with matching looks of abject terror on their faces. The boys simply watched him go, deathly grim looks marring their faces. His eyebrow rose as he watched the student's reactions curiously. Had they found out about the Kyuubi? Did they rightly fear the demon spawn within their ranks?

Sasuke stepped into the small dirt circle and all was silent. Naruto stood across from him, just a few feet away and oddly unmoving. The normally energetic Naruto usually would be bouncing on the spot, proclaiming loudly about getting an easy victory, but not today. The normally cheering (for Sasuke) and jeering (at Naruto) students were as still as the dead, watching the two face off, each barely moving a muscle.

A slight breeze swept through the training ground, kicking up the leaves and blowing them through the assembled Academy students. Mizuki glanced at each of the combatants before raising his arm. "Ready!" he said, pausing as the two slipped into their fighting stances.

Sasuke smirked as he settled into the standard Academy stance: hands raised and legs slightly apart, one foot before the other. Naruto appeared to do the same except his footing was completely off and the positioning of his hands left a very obvious gap in his defence. Sasuke was far from stupid; he knew about the instructors various attempts to sabotage Naruto. In fact, it had been Mizuki-sensei who taught this poor stance to Naruto, under the pretext of giving him extra training.

Well, whatever. It didn't matter what stance he used. After Sasuke had provoked him, Naruto would be fighting using that unpredictable 'beast mode' of his. As Sasuke opened his mouth to shoot off his first taunt and Mizuki's hand began to lower, signalling the beginning of the fight, the raven haired Uchiha caught Naruto's eye. As he stared into those blue eyes, he found that he couldn't recall the insults he had thought up, each one perfectly crafted to illicit the strongest and most rage filled response.

Mizuki's hand was nearly at the end point of its descent, and he had opened his mouth to announce the commencement of the match. Suddenly, Naruto's face changed. As Sasuke watched, completely lost for words, Naruto's expressionless face twisted into the most terrifying grin he had ever laid eyes on. It was a wide and hungry grin, which perfectly complemented his manic eyes, which had slowly changed from blue to purple and finally to red.

Whether it was his imagination or not, Sasuke was convinced that the weird whisker-like marks on his cheeks had gotten thicker and that his canines and nails had elongated. He didn't recall them ever looking so... animalistic. To complete the transformation, his pupils dilated then stretched until they resembled catlike slits. _'Naruto definitely has some kind of Kekkei Genkai in his family.'_ he found himself thinking. It was the only way to explain this sudden change in his looks and strength. Maybe the Uzumaki family used cats much like the Inuzuka used dogs, though that was kind of lame when he thought about it. The Uzumaki's must not have lasted long if that was the case.

"Fight!" yelled Mizuki, as his hand reached the end of its arc. Sasuke blinked to clear his mind of unnecessary thoughts, and in the half second that his eyes were closed Naruto had disappeared. A small cloud of dust floated lazily in the spot where Naruto had stood, prompting Sasuke to focus on his surroundings. While it wasn't permitted for fighters to hide outside the ring, hiding underground or disguising themselves as twigs or rocks was acceptable. Henges were allowed in sparring matches since they would be utilized in a proper taijutsu battle to blend with the surroundings.

"Y-You can do Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out tentatively. Sasuke pointedly ignored her, focusing on listening for the slightest sound as he scanned the arena. There were an abundance of sticks and stones on the ground, but Naruto had always been terrible at henges. Still, with his new found strength, Sasuke didn't want to leave anything to chance. He sent chakra down through the soles of his feet, sending a little pulse into the ground much like a sonar ping. Any beings with a significant chakra network would block the wave of energy, sending back little reflections and revealing their location.

The pulse revealed nothing, stumping the last Uchiha. If Naruto wasn't underground and had no place to hide around him, then the only place left was...

"Up here dumbass!" Sasuke glanced up in time to see Naruto appearing out of nowhere, the sun shining directly behind him to hide his descent, and kicking him soundly in the face. Sasuke ploughed into the ground, leaving a shallow person-shaped crater in the dirt. He leapt quickly to his feet and felt his jaw tenderly. The blonde boy had nearly dislocated his jaw with one kick!

And he wasn't done yet. Taking advantage of Sasuke's disorientation, Naruto leapt forward and sunk his right fist into his solar plexus. Sasuke gasped as he was winded, coughing up spit and blood. Naruto leaned closer to him, snarling. "Fight back bitch! Or is this all the last Uchiha can do?"

"Don't underestimate me!" snarled Sasuke, swinging his right foot at Naruto's head. The blonde blocked with ease. Continuing on his momentum, Sasuke brought his left fist up and aimed it at Naruto's head, who grabbed it and pushed it away before it made contact. Sasuke grunted and brought his left foot up, directing a kick towards Naruto's stomach. Naruto used his free elbow to deflect the kick, leaving himself open. Sasuke smirked and brought up his right fist for a devastating upper cut. He channelled chakra into his muscles to bolster his attack and aimed for Naruto's chin. Just as it was about to connect, he heard Naruto whisper in his ear.

"I can't hold back anymore!"

"What the hell?" said Sasuke, but it proved to be a waste of breath, since he got his answer soon enough.

"RAAAAGH!" yelled Naruto, clamping his hand like a vice on Sasuke's ankle. In a shocking display of strength, he swung Sasuke upwards so his upper cut whistled over his head.

"How can he-ARGH!" Sasuke yelled out as Naruto hand tightened on his ankle. A sickening snapping noise echoed through the training grounds as Sasuke's fibula and tibia fractured in several places. The crowd winced and Akamaru whined as Naruto flipped Sasuke over his shoulder, then leapt up and kicked him downwards, slamming him onto the ground.

"GACK!" Sasuke's eyes were screwed shut with pain. That last attack had dislocated and cracked a few of his ribs. He slowly opened his eyes, and his pupils contracted with fear. Naruto was slowly walking towards him, a strange looking red chakra emitting from various parts of his body. Whatever the red substance was, it made the air feel heavy and gave off a feeling of intense malevolence. Blood dripped from his hand; when he had punched Sasuke in the stomach, his nail/claws had grazed his skin enough to draw a steady stream of blood.

"S-Stay back!" The Uchiha hadn't felt this sort of fear since he'd faced his brother after he had slaughtered their parents and clan. But right now, Sasuke truly felt that Naruto was going to kill him, before he'd even achieved his goal. This wasn't sparring anymore; this was a life and death battle.

And he wasn't ready to die yet.

With his leg out of commission and his body too sore to move, Sasuke resorted to the only tactics he had left. Anything would do to keep that monster away from him, not matter how cowardly. As Naruto continued his slow walk towards him, grinning like a lunatic, Sasuke's hand slipped into his weapon's pouch.

Naruto drew closer, while their fellow students and even Mizuki backed away. _'Shit, the demon brat's going to kill the Uchiha prodigy! The council will have my head!'_ though Mizuki, feeling sweat beading on his brow. This presence, this ominous feeling emanating from the boy... he'd only felt when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha and it only confirmed his belief that Naruto was the Nine Tailed Fox.

He quickly scanned through his students, searching for anyone that wasn't rooted to the spot in fear. Upon spotting Kiba, who looked ready to run, he quickly grabbed his shoulder, nearly dislodging Akamaru from his place on top of his master's head. "Inuzuka, I need to you to run to the Hokage Mansion and alert the Third Hokage. Tell him to send the ANBU to the Academy Training Grounds!" when the boy shakily nodded, he pushed him roughly towards the exit. "Go!" he yelled, sending the boy scampering away, his little ninja dog in tow.

_'Now all I can do is pray that he'll make it before we have to bury what's left of Sasuke in a shoebox.'_

Sasuke's fingers scrabbled through his weapon's pouch frantically, searching for anything to keep Naruto away until he could escape. He spared a glance towards Naruto and froze, feeling absolute terror washing over him.

Naruto slowly raised the hand coated in blood to his mouth, and licked the still wet liquid off his fingers, grinning as he did so. "Oh, so that's what blood tastes like!" he said slowly. "I like it... It's good... I want more!" he turned his eerie red eyes on Sasuke, and the raven haired boy could see the bloodlust in them. This wasn't for show; Naruto had truly become a monster.

"Get the hell away from me you sick bastard!" his fingers finally found the weapon he was searching for and he gripped it tightly, waiting for his chance. Naruto drew nearer, and knelt down beside the injured boy, exposing his animal-like canines as he smiled.

"But the fun's just beginning Sasuke-teme! Let's see how long you'll last." he raised his arm up high, ready to plunge it into Sasuke's abdomen. The Uchiha waited until the last moment and attacked.

He pulled out the explosive tag he had been concealing in his hand and slapped into onto Naruto's face. He rolled as far away as he could manage and put his hands together in the ram seal. The tag exploded as Naruto was clawing at it, trying to pull it off his face. The blast sent him flying backwards, burning the injured Sasuke's back in the process. Sasuke opened his eyes in time to see Naruto land on his back a few feet away, blood gushing in all directions from his head in a torrent. Sasuke grinned then winced as his injuries took their toll on him. His vision flashed red and the last thing he saw were a squad of ANBU surrounding him, weapons drawn as they faced the unmoving Naruto. Then his eyes closed and he welcomed the darkness of unconsciousness.

* * *

~Konoha General Hospital~

* * *

When Sasuke regained consciousness, he found himself lying in a strange bed, swathed in clean white bandages. The unnatural smell that belonged exclusively to hospitals quickly clued him as to where he was resting. The empty white room save for his bed and a small bedside table could have belonged to any hospital in the Fire Country but there was only one hospital in Konohagakure.

He pulled off his thin bed sheet, shivering as the coolness of the room hit him. Looking down at his body, he quickly ascertained the damage he had taken during the fight. From his waist to his torso, he was wrapped in tightly wound bandages, while his left leg was in a cast. He gently raised his hand to his head, feeling more bandages around his forehead and cotton pads stuck to his cheeks.

He didn't dare attempt to sit up since simply moving his arm had sent twinges of pain through his chest. Instead, he pulled his blankets back over his body, and gazed at his hands. He scowled as he realized they were shaking, quivering as he remembered his fight with Naruto. His hands balled into fists and shook more violently as Naruto's ghastly grin and blood red eyes paraded before his mind's eye. He closed his onyx eyes tightly, hating himself for being scared of a memory. All the confidence he'd had before fighting Naruto had left him. Instead he felt nothing but true terror, grudgingly admitting that he feared the monster the blonde idiot had become.

"Shit. Damn him." he muttered through gritted teeth, trying to suppress the shivering that had nothing to do with the cold room.


	3. Stoking the Flames of Revenge

**Breaking Point: The Darkness Within**

* * *

**Chapter Three ~ Stoking the Flames of Revenge**

* * *

**"Awaken pup. The time for rest is over. We have a visitor."** Naruto's eyes opened blearily. Or at least one of them did. His right eye was fully functional while his left remained closed.

_'Why can't I see out of my left eye?'_ thought Naruto, glancing around at his surroundings. He had been propped up against the back wall of a small square room. Three of the walls were made of rough grey cement while the wall directly in front of him was composed of vertical iron bars, with a small metal plate built into the middle.

**"I am still in the process of rebuilding your face after you so foolishly got too close to that Uchiha boy! Are you unaware of the fact that wounded and cornered animals are the most dangerous?"**

_'Where are we?'_

**"That, I do not know. While I am at it, shall I take this opportunity to reconstruct your face into something more aesthetically pleasing?"**

_'Keep it as it was, I beg you.'_

The Kyuubi sighed dramatically. **"A missed opportunity. You should be grateful I'm even deigning to rebuild your damaged head. Fine then, I shall restore your face back to its original and extremely hideous state. Now, why don't you converse with the human standing outside our cell, and find out why he's staring at us so intently?"**

Naruto simultaneously felt and heard his jaw being wrenched back into place. "Ow!" he yelped, wincing as a few sparks of red chakra played across his face, reattaching tendons, sealing the numerous cuts and tears in his skin and giving him the ability to speak once again. Steam rose from his injuries as they sealed, one of the few benefits of having a Biju within him.

The blonde boy squinted through the darkness, eventually spotting a small hunched figure standing on the other side of the bars. While he couldn't see any distinctive features, the posture of the mysterious visitor looked vaguely familiar. "Old man Hokage?" he rasped, his throat feeling dry and sore.

"Old man? Certainly. Hokage? If all goes well, soon enough." that wasn't the voice of the Third Hokage, in fact, Naruto had never heard this person's voice before. As his nose cracked painfully back into place and a spark of red chakra knitted the skin back together, he used his Kyuubi enhanced sense of smell to see if he could place where the man had come from. He smelled of dust and cheap soap, with an odd scent coming from some part of his body. It was similar to the smell of skin that had been wrapped in a bandage for too long.

"Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Shimura Danzo. I am the founder of the Foundation, otherwise known as Root."

"And Root is?" his scalp began to feel itchy as his hair grew back. As he tried to raise his arm to relieve his irritation, he found both of his arms had been encased up to the elbow in a rectangular stone covered in dark blue glowing seals. The stone block was heavy; he could barely lift it off his lap to examine the glowing symbols.

"A special branch of the ANBU. We are a hard line organization that only carries out missions I deem beneficial for this great village. We are the unseen ones who support the great tree of Konoha from the depths of the earth. Naturally some of the missions my subordinates perform are... less than respectable, but necessary for the betterment of Konohagakure."

"Uh huh. And this Root is not approved by the Hokage is it? I've never heard of you."

"We pride ourselves on secrecy but yes, we are not an officially recognized faction. The Foundation and the services it performed were at odds with _Sarutobi_ and his peaceful 'will of fire' teachings," As Danzo spoke, Naruto did not miss the disgusted inflection he placed on the third Hokage's name. "Inevitably, he ordered the disbandment of Root since he disagreed with my methods. However, this only encouraged us to go underground, where we were met with considerably less resistance."

"And why are you here? I doubt you came to see how I was doing." there was a popping sound, and Naruto's right ear was restored, giving him his full range of hearing. At the same time, an extremely painful pinching sensation occurred behind his ruined left eye, and he felt an unpleasant squelching as his eye was reformed inside its socket.

"I merely wished to see the boy who holds the Kyuubi at bay with his very life. You know, the Fourth Hokage wanted you to be seen as a hero for carrying your burden."

"Yeah, and look how that turned out." Naruto muttered darkly.

"Yes, your life has been anything but ideal. So I want to help you, so that you can enjoy the life you deserve."

"And what do you want in return?" Naruto wasn't a complete idiot. He'd learned the hard way that nothing in life came free. Danzo stepped closer to the bars, presenting Naruto with his first glimpse of the man by the light of the symbols on his restraints. He was dressed simply in a white shirt and black robe. He had a bandage tied around his forehead which extended over the right side of his face and an x-shaped scar on his chin. His right arm was concealed inside his robe while his left hand held a small walking stick.

"I'd like you to help me achieve my goal."

Thinking back over the conversation, Naruto took a guess. "You want to be Hokage?"

Danzo looked over him with appraisal. "Well done, you are not as dense as the Academy reports have lead me to believe. That is also your goal as well, is it not? We can help each other. When the time comes for me to name a successor-"

"Sorry. Not interested." Danzo gave him a questioning glance and the blonde elaborated. "I don't give a damn about this village anymore, much less becoming Hokage." Inside, Naruto was surprised at how easily those words had left his lips. He truly did not care about the village, despite his old dreams of being accepted and recognized by the villagers as their Hokage. _'Looking back now, those were childish dreams. These villagers would never accept me no matter what I did. I must be growing up.'_

"I see." Danzo stepped back and appeared to be pondering something. "Well, in that case, let us start one step at a time. I do not believe enlisting you in the Root is the best course of action. We shed all emotions so that the mission can be completed, no matter the cost. But your 'special' power only comes through rage and hatred. So instead, I would like to train you, so that you may fully utilize your power and use it to help me ascend to the seat of Hokage."

Naruto frowned as he considered the offer. "But why can't you use your army of emotionless ninja to take it by force?"

"The villagers would never accept me if I killed their beloved Third Hokage." replied Danzo. "I'll have to take power fair and square, or at least appear to do so. Your prisoner would be beneficial... rather, an extremely powerful bargaining chip to convince the current Hokage to step down."

"I... I'll have to think about it."

"By all means, take as much time as you need. When you have an answer, I'll know where to find you." a dry chuckle issued from his lips as he appreciated the humour in his own little joke. With that, he disappeared into the gloom, leaving Naruto to ponder his offer.

* * *

~Konoha General Hospital~

* * *

"Uchiha-kun, you should not be wandering around in your current state." the nurse chided gently, motioning for the injured boy to return to his room. Sasuke paid her no notice, continuing down the cold sterile hallway, searching the placards on the doors for a certain name.

The nurse sighed disapprovingly but followed the boy, curious to see what he was up to. In time, Sasuke spotted the name card he was looking for and knocked on the door. Without waiting for a reply, he barged in, ignoring the indignant scolding of the nurse on his heels.

At first glance the room, identical to Sasuke's own, seemed to be empty. Then he spotted the vase full of fresh purple flowers near the window, the only source of colour in the bland white room. As his roving eyes landed on the bed, he spotted a small bulge under the bedcovers; the shape of a person lying in the foetal position. He approached slowly, his wooden crutches making soft clacking noises against the cool tiles.

As he stopped at the edge of the bed and put his hand on the bedcovers, he noticed the person underneath was quivering. He adjusted his grip and gently pulled away the bed covers, rather than yanking them off like he had intended to.

Underneath lay the shivering form of Tanaka Ami, her hands placed over her head protectively. Her arms covered her face from view and she was whimpering in fear.

"Ami-san." Sasuke called out to the terrified girl.

"KYAAAA!" startled, the Uchiha leapt back, cursing under his breath. "DON'T HURT ME!"

"SHUT UP!" he growled, silencing the girl instantly. She peeked out from behind her arms and after recognizing who had spoken to her, sat up abruptly, shuffling to the furthest end of the bed.

"S-Sasuke-kun, what d-do you want?" her arms were wrapped around herself protectively, and she seemed to be shying away from her visitor. Her one visible cheek flushed as she realized Sasuke was staring at her. "D-Don't stare at m-me like that, its e-embarrassing." she was already self-conscious about how she looked, and now with the permanent damage that Naruto had wrought on her face...

Sasuke didn't deign to answer, instead retreating to speak with the nurse, his eyes never leaving Ami's face. The purple haired girl glanced to the side awkwardly as he addressed the nurse. "How is she fairing?" he asked in a subdued tone.

The nurse's face softened and took on a sympathetic look. "Not too good unfortunately. We did all we could but we couldn't save her eye. Furthermore, she's going to have those horrific scars for the rest of her life. When she was brought in to the E.R, there appeared to be some sort of foreign substance that continued to damage her face, and staggered the healing process after we operated."

"Did you identify this substance?" Sasuke asked curiously.

The nurse hesitated before speaking. "I... I really shouldn't be telling you this but... since you are in the same situation I suppose it's alright."

_'Same situation?'_ Sasuke thought as the first vestiges of dread crept into his heart.

"When we were operating, we noticed a faint red light within her injuries. We found the same substance in the lacerations on your torso. This red light was intangible, yet had the ability to burn though flesh and melt our surgical equipment. Eventually, we identified it as some form of chakra and had one of our ninja medics remove it from both you and Tanaka-chan."

_'Red chakra...'_ Sasuke winced as phantom pains wracked his body, issuing from his injuries. He saw the demonic Naruto, with that cursed red chakra emitting from his skin. _'So Naruto's little ability has long lasting effects as well. I need to research the Uzumaki family and find out what this mysterious power is.'_

"So you managed to get rid of it completely?"

"It was incredibly difficult to remove, plus we had to heal the injuries the second we removed the red chakra, otherwise it would seep back in from a different area and continue attacking your bodies. All in all, we are mostly sure we removed all of it, and we've been monitoring you and your injuries to see if there has been any relapse. The doctors haven't seen any further damage and your wounds are beginning to heal, so I believe we have safely cleared out all of the red chakra." she leaned closer to the boy, her pink nurse's outfit contrasting heavily with the serious look on her face. She brushed her black bangs out of her eyes and whispered in an almost conspiratorial manner. "So, will you tell us who or what caused those injuries? The Hokage instructed us not to ask, but I feel we can help you more if we knew what we were dealing with."

Sasuke gave her a mildly suspicious glance. This nurse was willing to go against the Hokage's orders for the sake of two children? Her face seemed honest enough, and she had given him a lot of care and concern these past few days... _'No, I better not say anything until I speak with the Hokage, and find out what's going on with Naruto.'_

"I can't say anything now, especially if the Third didn't want you to know. I'd like to speak with him before I decide anything, because I'm just as mystified as you are."

The nurse smiled ruefully and shook her head. "A loyal ninja to the end huh? Well, I suppose I can't blame you. Just promise me, if you feel you can tell me what you find out from the Hokage, please do so."

Sasuke wasn't sure how to respond to the nurse. She seemed kind enough but a ninja was supposed to 'look underneath the underneath'. Her desire for information could have more result of more suspicious motives. It had been a while since his mother died and his father had been stern yet fair. His brother... he didn't want to go down that road just yet. Instead, he simply nodded and returned to Ami's bedside. The nurse watched him go with a smile and left the room, sliding the door shut behind her.

"Ami-san."

"H-Hai?" she mumbled without looking at him.

"You'll be happy to know that I fought Naruto, faced his freakish power and won." Ami tensed when she heard the Jinchuriki's name, and then turned quickly to face Sasuke.

"You won? Y-You beat _him_?" she was still too scared to use her tormentor's name. She'd been sleeping poorly since she'd been admitted to the hospital, her night's spent whimpering in fear as Naruto tortured her in a variety of sadistic ways. The dark circles under her eyes were proof of her sleepless nights, and Sasuke suddenly felt the need to reassure her that her nightmares were unfounded, that Naruto was still a mortal.

"Yes. Stuck an explosive tag on his face and blew him sky high. If he isn't dead, he's badly injured and won't be hurting anyone else for a while. He decided not to mention the blonde's sudden taste for blood; remembering how Naruto had licked Sasuke's blood off his fingers still gave him the chills, however much he berated himself for those moments of weakness.

"I see. Thank goodness..." her face turned as pale as her bed sheet, prompting Sasuke to raise an eyebrow in curiosity. "D-Does that m-mean _he's_ here? In this very h-hospital?" Ami was on the verge of tears and Sasuke hurriedly explained, not wanting to deal with the troublesome waterworks that were sure to come.

"No, I saw the ANBU dragging his body towards the Interrogation and Torture facility. They have secure chakra suppressing cells down there to keep him away from the public if he's alive."

"Oh thank Kami! I-I feel so relieved..." she slumped back in her bed, her untied purple hair splaying out on the pillow. Oddly enough, the two long strands of hair framing her face were unevenly cut, one halting just below her chin while the other continued down to her chest. He briefly wondered if her hair was cut like that all the way around, since right now most of her head and the entire right side of her face were covered in bandages. The only part of her face he could see was her left eye, half of her eyebrow and a small patch of cheek in the gap in the bandages left for her one good eye. The bandages on her nose and chin kept slipping or riding up to cover her mouth, which in hindsight wasn't too big of an issue.

She used two fingers to open up a gap for her mouth as Sasuke turned to leave. "W-Won't you stay with me Sasuke-kun? I've been so lonely..." without even bothering to turn around, he replied.

"I'll come see you tomorrow. I'm tired."

"Oh... See you soon Sasuke-kun. Sleep well." the disappointment in her voice was easily distinguishable, prompting Sasuke to exit the room as fast as he crutches would let him. He slid the door shut behind him harder than necessary and hobbled up the hallway and back to his room.

He didn't have time to waste on girls; he had a mystery to solve and a brother to kill.

* * *

~Interrogation and Torture Facility~

* * *

"Welcome Hokage-sama! You're here to see _him_ right?" the young shinobi guarding the door to the cells was quick to stand at attention upon seeing his Hokage walk into the I&T Facilities' lobby.

"Relax, young man. If it's not too much trouble, I would like to visit the boy." Sarutobi replied with a kindly smile. It was nice to be shown such respect, but he didn't really care for such formalities with his fellow villagers. They were all considered part of his family after all; such was the thinking of the Hokages.

"F-For you it's no trouble at all Hokage-sama!" the young man replied earnestly. They stood as they were for a few minutes, the oblivious guard in front of the doors and the Third Hokage standing patiently before him. A sweat drop rolled down the old man's head as the clock ticked away the long minutes.

"Might I ask you for your name?" asked Sarutobi.

"Tanaka sir. Tanaka Hiro." came the quick reply.

"Ah, you must be Tanaka Ami's elder brother."

"That I am sir." Hiro was much more subdued after the Hokage made the connection. Sarutobi watched the young man's face fall and smiled gently.

"You must truly care for her."

"I do Hokage-sama! That's why I can never forgive the monster that did this to her!" his face took on a fierce expression, and Sarutobi saw the hatred in his eyes that was so prevalent in the eyes of those who knew about the Kyuubi sealed within Naruto.

"I see. Well then Tanaka Hiro-san, would you do me the favour of standing aside and letting me through to the prison?"

Hiro quickly became flustered as he ungracefully stepped away from the door as if it had burned him, stuttering apologies until he was incoherent. Sarutobi placed his hand on the elder Tanaka sibling's shoulder, silencing his verbal barrage. "I will visit your sister soon and see how she's faring. Would you like me to bring her anything?"

"T-Thank you for your offer Hokage-sama!" Hiro reached into his standard issue combat vest and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. "My parents asked me to deliver this letter to her when I was supposed to visit her in the evening, but I got stuck with a double shift. If you could give it to her for me..."

"I will see to it that she gets it." he gently took the letter and stored it inside one of the many pockets in his Hokage robes. He gave the guard a smile and disappeared through the polished wooden door, chuckling as the young man bowed deeply to him in thankfulness.

* * *

~Prison Ward~

* * *

After providing the required evidence to prove he was the Hokage he said he was at the security checkpoint, Sarutobi stepped through the stone doorway and into the cold tunnels that made up the prison ward. Torches lit the passageway at various intervals, the flickering lights creating ominous shadows along the walls.

Consulting the prison warden's handy map of the facility, Sarutobi walked into the labyrinthine tunnels, keeping his eyes fixed on the numbered plates beside the cell gates. Finally he arrived at the very end of the tunnel system, where the torches had not been lit or had been extinguished on purpose. This was where the worst of the worst were kept, and this was where Naruto was being held.

The Third Hokage stopped outside Cell 317. His eyes had long since adjusted to the dark, but he still had to squint to make out anything inside the gloom at the back of the cell. A row of glowing blue symbols suspended just above the floor confirmed that someone was inside the cell, with the required restraints in place. The very foundation of the building had been imbued with seals that suppressed the chakra of anyone inside the cells but it didn't hurt to take a few extra precautions where the Kyuubi was concerned. Sarutobi did not want to place any doubt on Naruto's self-control, but he was worried the Kyuubi had awoken within him and begun to influence him, if his recent actions were anything to go by. He only hoped the Nine Tails hadn't said anything that Sarutobi would have preferred to keep hidden at this moment in time.

"Naruto-san? Are you awake?" while he was fully aware of the boy's disregard for titles and honorifics, Sarutobi wasn't quite sure what state of mind Naruto was in. Maybe a little formality now and then wasn't too bad after all, if it kept him in Naruto's good books.

A pair of glowing fox-like red eyes appeared above the blue symbols, burning angrily through the darkness. As they settled on the figure standing outside the cell, they slowly faded to purple and then to a very familiar shade of blue. Something was off however, and it took Sarutobi a few moments to realize that the sparkle of vitality that was usually present in Naruto's eyes was gone. His eyes had become dim and hollow, seemingly staring right through the old Hokage.

"Hello Old Man Hokage. It's been awhile." Naruto's voice issued from the gloom, emotionless and even in tone, the complete opposite of the cheerful and loud voice Naruto was well known for.

Sarutobi took it as a good sign that his form of address and lack of honorifics hadn't changed. "How are you faring? I asked the warden to send a few medical personnel to see to your injuries-"

"No one came. My injuries healed on their own."

"... I see. I'll have a word with the staff on my way out." Sarutobi frowned. He hadn't been aware that the villagers were willing to go against his orders to spite the Kyuubi. He was definitely going to make a clear example of the warden. If the people were willing to go so far, then maybe they'd start telling their children about Naruto and his prisoner and then there'd be a whole pile of trouble waiting for the boy upon his release... If he ever was released...

"Don't waste your breath. What are you going to achieve by telling a bunch of pathetic, ignorant fools to go against what they so firmly believe in?" The old man was taken aback by Naruto's tone and words. The situation was much worse than he thought, and it confirmed the Kyuubi had already started messing with his mind.

"Am I correct in assuming that you have been made aware of the... 'being'... sealed within you?"

"Obviously." came the cold and simple reply. Sarutobi sighed wearily and leaned back against the wall, feeling his old age catching up with him.

"And what has it told you?"

"The Kyuubi told me all about how the Fourth Hokage sealed him inside me on the day he attacked Konoha. I was also shown most of the attack from the Kyuubi's perspective. He also mentioned there being a reason why I was chosen to bear the burden but he didn't tell me." as he spoke, Naruto was reminded of the memory of the woman who had been smashed to pieces against a rock that the Kyuubi had insisted on showing him every time he dreamed of the attack. Her identity was still a mystery, and the image of her screaming while in pieces was one of the few things that could still make Naruto feel uneasy.

Sarutobi felt very unsettled by the fact that Naruto referred to the Kyuubi so casually. He chose not to mention it at the moment, though he intended to bring it up later. "Do you have anything you want ask of me?"

"Two questions, and I want proper answers, not politically correct bullshit." now Sarutobi's mouth hung open in shock. He hadn't expected that language from a seven year old. He eventually managed to recover and nodded, before remembering that Naruto couldn't see his face in the darkness.

"I-I'll see what I can do."

"Very well. First question: What is my role as a Jinchuriki in this village?" this first question was a test, to see if the Hokage would be honest with him like he had demanded.

"Officially, you are keeping the Kyuubi at bay and nothing more. In reality, you are a way of telling other Hidden Villages that Konoha is strong and not to be trifled with."

"So I'm a symbol of power?"

"That's one way to put it." in fact, that was a very succinct way of describing his role. How much had the Kyuubi told him? "You would also have become our secret weapon after a few years of training, in the eventuality of another Shinobi World War. This is more my reasoning though, since the Village Council was planning to have you executed after your recent series of unfortunate incidents until I convinced them otherwise."

Naruto was silent for a few moments. It appeared the old man was being straight with him, so asking the second question wouldn't be a waste of time. "Next question," he said suddenly, unknowingly making the old Hokage jump. "Why was I chosen to be the Kyuubi's container?"

"Ah..." from his tone, Naruto could tell the old man was hesitating, but it also confirmed that he did in fact know the reason. He could always confirm it with the Kyuubi if he felt he needed to. "I don't see why I should keep this from you... I'm only worried about how you'll react..."

"Tell me. Uh… Hokage-sama." the blonde's words had come out like an order, so he added the proper and well-earned title of respect after an awkward pause. The old man was his Hokage after all, and he'd been good to Naruto over the years.

"The Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, is your father." Naruto's eyes widened in shock. Now that, he hadn't expected. To be honest, Naruto had noticed the passing resemblance in hairstyle and hair colour, but since the boy had been treated like dirt all his life, he doubted any family member of the beloved Fourth Hokage would have ended up as he had.

_'Is it true?'_ he thought, directing his question towards the Kyuubi.

**"Obviously. It honestly confounds me as to how the moronic people of this rotten village could not have made the connection, despite the fact that your birth was never announced."** the Kyuubi's mocking statement actually made a lot of sense to Naruto...

...And that was worrying.

'_My father was the Fourth Hokage? He sealed the Nine Tails into his own newborn son?'_ Naruto's mind began to work in overdrive, trying to comprehend how a father could sacrifice his son for the good of the village. Despite his reasons, and being the Hokage, shouldn't a good father have been unable to do it? Or have placed the burden on someone else? Or perhaps have found another way, no matter how unlikely it would have been? Naruto had done nothing to deserve this treatment! He had been at his most innocent, a baby fresh from the womb, tainted on his birthday by the Kyuubi and selfishness of his father.

_**"And now to stoke the flames of revenge."**_ the Kyuubi thought, making sure to keep his musings from his container. Using a little of his chakra, like he had been doing every night for the last few days, the Kyuubi began influencing the boy's mind, the red chakra causing him to slowly sink into a blind rage, feeding on his emotions. Using the darkness already buried in his heart, he drew on all of Naruto's frustrations and negative feelings, pouring them into the fire of his anger.

Outside the cell, Sarutobi was still speaking, but his words fell on deaf ears. "Now Naruto-san, try to see it from his perspective. The sealing ritual required a newborn infant and-"

The old man's rambling was cut off as a wave of killer intent flowed from the depths of Naruto's cell, a rage so deep and overbearing it set the Hokage on edge. The burning red eyes were back, and they were rising as Naruto staggered to his feet. The Hokage blinked, and in the next second, those eyes were right near the bars, staring straight into his soul. The blue symbols on the restraints bobbed up and down angrily as Naruto began to yell.

"SEE IT FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE?! WHY THE FUCK SHOULD I? THAT SORRY BASTARD RUINED MY LIFE THROUGH HIS OWN SELFISHNESS! HOW COULD A FATHER SACRIFICE HIS OWN SON?!"

"Naruto-san, please control yourself, you're falling prey to the Kyuubi's influen-"

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN YOU SHIT EATING SORRY EXCUSE FOR A HOKAGE! THAT FUCKING BASTARD IS NO FATHER OF MINE, YOU HEAR ME?! IF HE WASN'T ALREADY DEAD, I WOULD HAVE KILLED HIM RIGHT NOW!"

Naruto was too far gone and Sarutobi realized that he'd have to wait until he calmed down to continue their conversation. The Kyuubi had most certainly affected his mind, now it was a question of how much. He resolved to send a psychologist or Yamanaka Inoichi if he was available to gain a picture of his state of mind the next day. Judging from the mental fitness report, he'd know when to visit again and what topics to avoid. Obviously, his father's 'betrayal' was one of them.

The old man shook his head sadly and began to walk away, feeling each of Naruto's verbal insults hit him like a physical blow. What had happened to the sweet and cheerful boy he once knew?

"GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKING COWARD, I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET...!"

* * *

~Konoha General Hospital~

* * *

Sasuke was steadily recovering from his injuries but was far from better. His chest still gave him trouble from time to time, despite the doctor's reassurance that all of the red chakra had been removed from his body. The cast on his leg prevented him from performing at least light training exercises to pass the time, so instead he requested that several books on the various families of Konoha through the generations be brought to him. He asked the nurse to also look out for books on allied nations and villages, specifically those to do with political marriages and agreements between Konoha and its allies. The Uzumaki's may not have originated in Konoha, so Sasuke wanted to make sure he had all the bases covered when he did his research.

"I'll find out your secret Uzumaki. Then we'll see who has the upper hand when we fight again." He muttered determinedly.

Sasuke leaned back contentedly against his pillow, a rare moment of calm for the uptight Uchiha. While most people didn't like hospitals for various reasons (mostly because of the food), Sasuke welcomed the peace and solitude it entailed. There were no girls chasing after him, bugging him about stupid things like dates or eating lunch with them. He had time to study up on topics not covered in the Academy curriculum and while he lamented the lack of physical training, researching new jutsu and advanced tactics was a decent trade off.

In fact, none of his so called fan club had turned up during his first two days at the hospital. Their love was clearly as shallow as their personalities, to which Sasuke had no objection to if it meant they'd leave him alone.

A knock at the door brought the raven haired boy out of his musings. One of the nurses slid open the door halfway open, nearly knocking her small pink hat off as she stuck her head inside to address him. "Uchiha-kun, you have a visitor!" she retreated and Sasuke could hear her talking to someone hidden behind the door. "You can enter, just remember not to make him exert himself; he's still recovering."

"Hai, I'll keep that in mind." came the reply. Sasuke froze as he recognized the voice. He turned slowly to face the door, feeling irritation creeping into his heart and disrupting the short-lived peace he had been enjoying.

The door slid fully open with a bang, revealing none other than Haruno Sakura, his pink haired and extremely persistent classmate. "Hello Sasuke-kun! How are you feeling?" she said in her loudest and most cutesy voice. Sasuke turned to face the window with a sigh, a scowl creasing his brow.

"Fuck me."


End file.
